Tomb of Li Fu

Tomb of Li Fu

The Tomb of Li Fu is a cultural relic protection unit of Yixing City.

The Tomb of Li Fu is located in Xihetouqiao Natural Village, Zanglin Village, Xinjian Town, Yixing City. In June 1983, it was designated as a county-level cultural relics protection unit by the People’s Government of Yixing County.

Li Fu (1906–1940) was a native of Zanglin Village, Xinjian, Yixing. He graduated from the Suzhou Art and Craft School in 1933. In 1934, he worked in education in Changzhou and founded the Shangmei Girls’ Art School. In 1937, he was the first in Yixing to raise the anti-Japanese resistance banner. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1939 and successively held positions such as Secretary of the Tai?yùn District Committee, head of the Organization Department, and leader of an independent guerrilla unit. On November 10, 1940, he died in a fierce battle against Japanese forces at Diaqiao, Wujin.

The tomb site is roughly square, measuring 26 meters north to south and 23.50 meters east to west. A circular earthen mound is built on the north side of the tomb, with several cypress trees planted behind it. At the front of the tomb stands a granite gravestone, inscribed in relief with regular script in Wei-style calligraphy: “Tomb of Li Fu, National Hero.” The inscription reads: “Winter Month, 32nd Year of the Republic of China” on the top, and “Respectfully erected by Luo Zhongyi” at the bottom. The stele is 1.68 meters high and 0.57 meters wide. In front of the stele are a granite offering table and chairs. At the front eastern and western corners of the tomb site stand square granite pillars, each 1.60 meters tall, engraved with an elegiac couplet written by Luo Zhongyi (then commander of the New Fourth Army's 16th Brigade): “Died for the nation, glory unmatched; served on the battlefield, loyalty and bravery commendable.”

Li Fu (1906–1940), courtesy name Lifu, was born in 1906 into a wealthy family in Zanglin, Yixing, during the 32nd year of the Guangxu reign in the Qing Dynasty. He was a martyr. After graduating from the Suzhou Art and Craft School, in the spring of 1934, he founded the Shangmei (later renamed Shangde) Girls’ Vocational School in Changzhou, serving as its principal. Skilled in painting and an effective educator, he expanded the school to include three classes each at the junior and senior high levels. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, he put down his pen and took up arms. In early 1938, he organized the Southern Jiangsu People’s Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army, funding it with family assets to fight the Japanese. The force once grew to over a hundred members. He... [Detailed information about Li Fu++]

Xinjian Town: Located in the northwest suburbs of Yixing City, Jiangsu Province, Xinjian Town covers an area of 45 square kilometers and has a population of nearly 30,000. It enjoys a subtropical maritime monsoon climate, with distinct seasons, mild and moist weather, and an average annual temperature of 15.5 degrees Celsius.

Xinjian Town is 200 kilometers east of Shanghai, 120 kilometers from Suzhou, 130 kilometers west of Nanjing, and 170 kilometers south of Hangzhou. It is connected to major cities such as Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, and Hefei by high-grade highways and serves as a vital hub linking northern and southern regions of the Yangtze River. Adjacent to National Highway 104, the Yijin First-Class Highway runs through the entire town and connects with the Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway... [Detailed information about Xinjian Town++]